1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector assembly, and particularly to an electrical connector assembly having a plurality of grounding buses for enhancing the signal quality of high frequency signals transmitted therethrough.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,871 discloses an electrical connector assembly for interconnecting two circuit boards, which transmit relatively high frequency signals. The electrical connector assembly includes a receptacle connector and a mating plug connector. The plug connector includes a central elongated ground plate, which has a plurality of leads along its length for engaging with a circuit board. The leads extend from each side of the ground plate at equal intervals. The plug connector further includes an outer shield that substantially surrounds the plug connector and has a plurality of leads extending from a bottom edge thereof for contacting with corresponding leads of the ground plate.
The receptacle connector includes a base and a plurality of shield plates. The base has a cavity defined therein for receiving a mating portion of the plug connector and a central portion extending into the cavity with a slot defined therein running the entire length of the central portion. When the plug connector and the receptacle connector are fully mated, the elongated ground plate extends well into the slot and is in electrical engagement with each of the shield plates. This provides a relatively short ground path from a first circuit board positioning the receptacle connector to a second circuit board positioning the plug connector, thereby significantly reducing crosstalk between two adjacent signal contacts of the electrical connector assembly.
However, this design provides only one ground plate in the plug connector that only provides a grounding function. Further, once the planarity of the ground plate is lost, a reliable engagement between the ground plate of the plug connector and the shield plates of the receptacle connector cannot be achieved. Hence, an improved electrical connector assembly is required to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.
A first object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector assembly having a plurality of grounding buses each having two engaging ribs for achieving reliable grounding performance;
A second object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector assembly having a plurality of ground buses that can be used for either grounding or power transmission.
To achieve the above objects, an electrical connector assembly in accordance with the present invention comprises a receptacle connector and a mating plug connector. The receptacle connector comprises an insulative housing and a plurality of signal terminals. The insulative housing further has two elongated sidewalls defining a plurality of channels for receiving corresponding signal terminals, and an internal wall between the two elongated sidewalls defining a plurality of grooves for receiving a plurality of first ground buses therein. The plug connector comprises a dielectric housing and a plurality of signal contacts. The dielectric housing defines a base and two rows of tongues extending upward from the base. Each tongue has an outer side surface and an inner side surface. The outer side surface of the tongue defines a plurality of passageways for receiving a plurality of signal contacts which engage with the signal terminals of the receptacle connector, and the inner side surface of the tongue defines a plurality of grooves for receiving a plurality of second ground buses which engage with the first ground buses of the receptacle connector. Each first ground bus includes a mating portion consisting of two engaging ribs each having a free end section and an arcuate section, and each second ground bus includes a mating portion having two ribs for contacting corresponding two engaging ribs of the first ground bus. In assembly, the free end section of the first ground bus is released from being preloaded by the insulative housing, and the arcuate section of each engaging rib engages with a corresponding rib of the mating portion of the second ground bus thereby ensuring a reliable engagement between the first and second ground buses.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.